Pensana Plc has completed its Front End Engineering Design and Value Engineering Study into establishing at Saltend a world-class, independent and sustainable facility to supply magnet metal rare earths vital for the electric vehicle, offshore wind turbine and other strategic industries.
The facility would have the annual capacity to produce 12,500 tonnes of separated rare earths including 4,500 – 5,000 tonnes of neodymium and praseodymium oxides, representing around 5% of the projected world demand in 2025, and reducing dependence on imports from China.
Pensana Chairman Paul Atherley said: “Completion of this study is another important step for Pensana in its plans to establish an independent and sustainable rare earth processing hub in the UK. The strong fundamentals and robust economics provide a solid platform for the financing and development of the project.
“The growing concerns over supply chain resilience and the burgeoning demand for magnet metals from the electric vehicle and offshore wind sectors is reflected in the growing customer demand for our products.”
The study outlines the plans to establish the world’s first independent and sustainable magnet metal rare earth separation hub at the Saltend Chemicals Park in the Humber Freeport, UK, treating material sourced from the Longonjo Operations in Angola and third-party feedstock from a variety of other sources.
The study has been prepared by Wood Plc, SRK Consulting, Snowden Mining Industry Consultants (Pty) Limited and Paradigm Project Management (Pty) Ltd.
